Ziyard and Katchalov Amongst EPT Deauville Leaders

It was a day of early upsets at EPT Deauville on Tuesday as a number of recognisable pros and former high fliers fell by the wayside at the start of play.

Indeed, with more than 400 players returning to the felt for Day 2 of the Main Event, the hopefuls on display were already starting to look towards the money and a place on the final table.

However, for some, that ambition was slightly premature as their forward-thinking caused them to falter in the session's opening level. Caught up in the chip deluge was the chip leader of the day, Ayman Zbib as well as the likes of Kevin MacPhee, Morten Mortensen and Bertrand 'ElkY' Grospellier.

With a mass exodus taking place in the early rounds, the organisers decided to add some stability the event midway through the day by announcing the payouts. After crunching the numbers a total of 671 entry fees had been collected, which meant the prizepool stood at €3,220,800 and that 95 players would walk away with at least €9,500. Moreover, this year's EPT Deauville Main Event champion will not only take home a shiny new trophy but €614,000.

Having restored some sort of focus to the session, the organisers watched as the clock ticked by and Dario Sammartino made his way to the top of the chip chart.

The Italian pro managed to bag himself 427,700 chips before the close of play to finish comfortably ahead of such luminaries as Zimnan Ziyard, Eugene Katchalov, JP Kelly and Stephen Chidwick. In total 137 players will return for Day 3 and play past the bubble before coming back for the penultimate session on Thursday.

Four online poker players that won prize packages into the $2,400 main event of the PPC Aruba World Championship 2016 courtesy of Intertops Poker and Juicy Stakes are on their way to the Caribbean this weekend and will be joined by vlogger ‘TheTrooper97’.

Americas Cardroom has released its fifth and final sponsored video chronicling the action from the Punta Cana Poker Classic 2016, which ended on Sunday with Latvian player Eduards Kudrjavcevs taking the main event title and its $143,675 first-place prize.